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Meeting of the members of the sex-worker network Shah Aiym, June 7-8

Tais-Plus and Shah-Aim
A meeting of the sex worker network Shah-Aim took place on June 7-8 at lake Issyk-Kul. The meeting was made possible due to financial support by the Robert Carr foundation. The participants of the meeting were representatives of sex worker community from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and their allies.

What did we talk about? We talked about the community and about our role in the programs promoting health and human rights. We also discussed meaningful participation and activism, as well as our participation in the sex worker movement. We analyzed the fact that facilitate and impede the development of the network. Finally, we also scrutinized our participation in decision making processes that are immediately relevant to sex workers, including our participation in the CCM. Our achievements: We probed our strengths and willingness to talk about our sex worker experiences in public. Public coming out is a difficult step. Our plans: We have developed our individual capacity-building plans, which will allow us to become active members of the network, as well as efficient staff members at our organizations. We have also drafted and discussed our common plans for the rest of 2013. Advocacy: We have discussed the issues that we need to raise with decision makers, including the donors. We have used this information already on June 10 at the national conference Sex worker capacity building as a response to HIV, which was attended among others by Anna Chernyshova, Head of the Global Fund’s grant management group. We have openly announced that the purchased means of prevention, namely female condoms, are below the standards. We have also presented our suggestions for the country application in the area of sex work. Anna Chernyshova agreed that our claims and suggestions are well-grounded.
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